Logo

‘Jane Pauley’ Canceled

Mar 11, 2005  •  Post A Comment

Staffers on NBC Universal’s “The Jane Pauley Show” were told in a meeting Friday afternoon in New York that the syndicated strip has been officially canceled. The show, which premiered Aug. 30, 2004, with great fanfare, had secured a two-year deal and top-level clearances on the NBC owned-and-operated stations.

Production on “Pauley” will cease in mid-April, and a mix of original episodes and repeats will air through the end of the season. Original episodes are slated for the entire May sweeps.

In a statement released to TelevisionWeek, distributor NBC Universal Television Distribution said, “We are very proud of the quality of work Jane, the producers and the entire team at ‘The Jane Pauley Show’ have put forward this season.”

Ms. Pauley also released a statement: “We started out with an enormous vote of confidence from our stations and have seen our audience grow steadily from November until now, but it came too late for too many to stick with us.”

The show had a season-to-date household rating of 1.5 through Feb. 27, according to Nielsen Media Research. It premiered modestly and never improved much beyond its opening numbers.

“Pauley,” which had been touted as an afternoon competitor to shows such as King World’s “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and Warner Bros.’ “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” had been downgraded in many markets. Though not a direct time-period trade, industry experts have said NBC Universal’s upcoming strip with Martha Stewart would help its stations replace any holes left by “Pauley.”